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• Morgan: Armannai; computer set 

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A heartrending, exquisite sculpture of Christ on the Cross stands on a headstone in the graveyard of St. Gabriel’s Church at Pawarenga in Northland, New Zealand. Its intimations of eternity are caught in the Robbin Morrison photograph Christ at Whangape Harbour which appears in his 1994 photographic essay A Journey. It is an image of Christ in the wilderness. He is held in a primeval landscape of bare, low, dark hills, silhouetted against a grey sky and luminous sea and mudflats in the harbour.

How did Christ come to be in this place? The music presents the revelation of His spirit that starts with the French Pikopo or Bishop sailing into the great harbour Te Hokianga-nui-a-Kupe. It is an event of immense significance. The bearers of God and his Son literally follow the path of Kupe, the traditional discoverer of New Zealand, and arrive in a schooner named after his homeland.

The Word of God is spread by His servants. The Mill Hill Missioners build churches and make converts. The Spirit of God suffuses the harbours, valleys and hills of the north. The souls of the priests and worshipers of past generations permeate the churchyard. A silver of early morning sunlight suddenly lights up, in perfect relief, the epitaph beneath Christ on the Cross. It is a miracle, a hidden text revealed by the hand of Christ above.

This is the final piece of Northland Panels, a series of four works for string orchestra based on photographs from A Journey. The others in the series are Angel at Ahipara, Night Journey to Pawarenga and Anthem of the Kaipara.

Christopher Blake
December 2007

• Blake: Christ at Whangape; computer-set 

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• Christopher Blake: Christ at Whangape 

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• Christopher Blake: Angel at Ahipara  Year: 2012 

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dans la nuit is based on a motif of a sustained note and a small range of glissandi notes. The motif follows an irregular rhythmic pattern which creates a feeling of uncertainty. The chromatic possibilities of the main theme have been explored and build on the initial uncertainty culminating in an atmosphere of apprehension and at times suspense. I was inspired to create this work after hearing a violinist improvising on a chromatic scale exercise.

• Toan: Dans La Nuit; computer set 

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• Toan: Dans La Nuit; computer set 

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• Lilburn: Diversions for string orchestra; computer-set 

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• NZBC Schola Musica 

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• Aotearoa - Orchestral and String Music by Douglas Lilburn 

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• Lilburn/Watson/Pruden: New Zealand Chamber Orchestra  Year: 1993 

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The composition of the ‘Serenade for Strings’ was undertaken from 2001 and this work succeeds Nigel Keay’s ‘Viola Concerto’. The ‘Serenade’ is a four movement work of around 17 minutes duration in an essentially lyrical style. The initial inspiration for the ‘Serenade for String Orchestra’ came from being involved as a violist in a string orchestra in Caen, Lower Normandy, which was assembling a programme of String Serenades. ‘Serenade for Strings’ is dedicated to Valerie Baisnae who played violin in this group.

From June 2001, work continued on the second movement in Paris and the writing was eventually finished in 2002. The first movement (‘Moderato’) starts very simply, which represents a tabula rasa where the lines accumulate one by one to construct the harmony, a detachment from what had been the heavy task of writing the ‘Viola Concerto’. ‘Serenade for Strings’ starts from nothing to create new harmonies.

Concerning the idea of the serenade, today a very imprecise musical form, the idea of the evening or night is kept through using a musical language that is quite dark. The first movement is based on a short, recurring chromatic melody constructed of quavers, but which is surrounded by a more and more elaborate variation of the background material. The second movement (‘Allegro’) is constructed on a kind of moto perpetuo texture long interwoven lines, which evolve into increasingly ornamented and elaborate melodies. The third movement (‘Adagietto’) is the darkest movement, marked by an often low orchestral tessitura. The bare melodies create the most desperate and tender moments of this work. The fourth movement (‘Vivo’) makes a lively contrast to the third with an optimistic opening. Melodic motives are tossed around the orchestra as in a game. But towards the end the nostalgic themes of the first movement are recalled.

“Comme tu me plairais, o nuit ! sans ces etoiles
Dont la lumiere parle un langage connu !
Car je cherche le vide, et le noir, et le nu !
Baudelaire ‘Obsession’”

• Keay: Serenade for Strings; computer-set 

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• Keay: Serenade for Strings; computer 

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• Nigel Keay: Serenade for Strings - First Movement; audio 

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• Nigel Keay: Serenade for Strings - Third Movement; audio 

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• Nigel Keay: Serenade for Strings and Other Works 

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• Keay: Serenade for Strings 

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• Music by Nigel Keay 

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• Perkins: Sinfonietta de Dieci; facsimile 

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• Perkins: Sinfonietta de Dieci; facsimile 

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• Freed: Suite for String Orchestra; facsimile 

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• Freed: Suite for String Orchestra; facsimile 

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• Biddington: Suite No. 2 for String Orchestra; computer set 

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• Eric Biddington: Rendez-vous  Year: 2007 

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• Tremain: Symphony for Strings; facsimile 

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In this three movement work for large string orchestra, the first movement is inspired by the image of a Javanese dancer accompanied by gamelan music and is reflected in the fast hocketing textures over long low bass notes analogous to the gamelan gongs. The central Adagio (for strings) is, quite unlike Barber’s famous movement, quite deliberately without climax reflecting the constantly oppressive tropical heat. The last movement is of an intense nature such as found in the pressure of population.

• Keay: Symphony for Strings; computer-set 

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• Keay: Symphony for Strings; facsimile 

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• Symphony for Strings  Year: 1992 

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